Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean announced the indictment of 27 people accused of conspiring to commit assault, extortion, home invasion robberies, commercial pharmaceutical robberies, narcotics trafficking, and other organized criminal activity.

By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

The Ventura County Grand Jury has handed down indictments on 27 people accused of conspiring to commit assault likely to cause serious bodily injury, extortion, home invasion robberies, commercial pharmaceutical robberies, narcotics trafficking, and other organized criminal activity.

All of the suspects are documented members of several local gangs in Ventura County. The unusual aspect of this case was that they were working in conjunction with and for the benefit of a highly organized prison gang hierarchy controlled by the Mexican Mafia or “La Eme.”

All of the criminal activity was organized and coordinated by one high ranking member of the Mexican Mafia from a prison outside California.

The investigation revealed the Mexican Mafia has used its intimidation and narco-trafficking powers to direct extortion and fear to control the criminal activities of Ventura County gangs.

“This case has dealt a crushing blow to organized crime in Ventura County,” said Assistant Sheriff Gary Pentis. “We have incapacitated the organization from the top through its geographic managers.”

While gang activity in Ventura County is not unusual, the cooperation among various rival gangs was unprecedented in this case.

During the past seven months, investigators utilized a variety of resources to uncover the activities of the group and actually interrupted several violent crimes before they were carried out. Detectives seized dozens of firearms and a variety of narcotics.

The complexity of the investigation required tremendous cooperation between local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Ventura